F 67 
.074 



lOGER 
iONANT 

IN <:AM ERICA 
AS GOVERNOR 
and CITIZEN 




BY 



_ 



Mrs. Sarah 
S. Bartlet 







Class. 
Book. 



Tg'/ 



G74- 



Roger Conant in America 



Governor and Citizen 




An' Hi£"To'RiV.y^/,' Address 



Di'.I. fVK.RS-r' Ai 



The Conant Family Reunion 

Hotel Vendome, Boston, June 13th, 1901 



Mrs. SARAH S. BARTLET 

617 Warren St., Roxbury, Mass. 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copita Received 

AUG. 12 190t 

Copyright enthy 
CLASS^ XXo. No. 

COPY a. 



Copyright, igoi, by Mrs. Sarah S. Barti.et. 



A^l ri flits ,ne!^^rx'e/.i . 



Published by Mrs. Sarah S. Bartlet. 



Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : — 

It is my pleasing duty on this notable occasion to present for your 
consideration the honored colonist, first governor and citizen, Roger 
Conant. 

All historians agree that his life was an open book, from which ema- 
nated only the best and purest motives ; acts which resulted in the great- 
est good to his fellow- men and to this country. Most assuredly do we 
owe to his noble traits and singleness of purpose, coupled with his wise 
judgment, the foundation of our beloved Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

In July, 1623, we find Roger Conant domiciled with the Plymouth 
Colony, having arrived there it is supposed in the good ship Ann, with 
his wife Sarah, who was the daughter of a merchant residing near his 
native town of East Budleigh, and their eldest son Caleb, about a year 
old, together with his brother Christopher. Rev. Mr. Lyford and John 
Oldham also came at the same time. They were all "particulars " ; that 
is, they paid their own expenses over to this country, while the " gener- 
als," as they were designated, came over at the expense of the Company 
of Adventurers in London. 

Roger Conant did not remain long with the Plymouth Colony, owing 
to the differences of religious belief between himself and the Pilgrim 
Fathers. They were Separatists, and he was a Nonconformist or Puri- 
tan, remaining loyal to the established Church of the mother country. 

After a short time Rev. Mr. Lyford and John Oldham incensed the 
Pilgrims by their opposition to the Pilgrim form of worship which had 
been adopted in the Colony, and they removed to Nantasket, whither 
Roger Conant soon followed them ; but he was not expelled with them 
from the Plymouth Colony, as has been erroneously stated. It was 
probably at this time that he made use of the island in Boston Harbor, 
and which for that reason was first called Conant's Island, but which is 
now known as Governor's Island, it having been granted to Governor 
Winthrop upon his agreeing to plant a vineyard and orchard upon it. 

Upon the representations of several navigators, among them Capt. 
John Smith, who had visited the coast in 16 14, a company was formed 
in London for the purpose of securing and trading in the abundant 
quantity of fish said to abound in these waters. In the fall of 1623 or 
'24 a small number of men with their families and supplies were sent 
over and located at a spot near what is now called Stage Head, in 
Gloucester. This was a barren, rocky place on the coast, illy suited for 



a habitation or for planting, on a rocky point projecting into the sea. 
In the spring more men, provisions and some cattle were sent over in 
season for the spring fishing. The materials for a house for the planters' 
use were sent, stages were erected for drying fish, and vats were dug for 
the manufacture of salt. At this time this branch of industry had en- 
gaged the attention of capitalists and others, many vessels being sent 
here to engage in this trade. The company which made this venture 
was called the Dorchester Company, and was composed of men of all 
ranks, including most influential men who hoped for great returns from 
this investment, for Capt. John Smith had said, " Let not the meanness 
of the vioxdfish distate you, for it will be offered as good gold as comes 
from the mines, with less hazard and charge and more facility." 

The settlement received the name of the Cape Ann Plantation, the 
cape being so called in honor of Queen Ann of Denmark, the Royal 
Consort of King James, and mother of Charles I, under whom the 
patent to Capt. John Smith had been granted in 1614, when he took 
possession of this region. Most of the prominent members of the 
Plantation were men whose homes were in the vicinity of Dorchester, 
England. The Dorchester Company appointed Mr. Thomas Gardner 
overseer of the Plantation, and Mr. John Tilly was given charge of the 
fisheries. One of the principal men of this settlement was Mr. John 
Woodbury, of Somersetshire, England. These men labored hard for 
the success of the venture in the face of adverse circumstances ; the 
principal ones being an untimely scarcity of fish, the price received 
for which at the same time declined, some of the crews were poorly 
chosen, and various mishaps befell the vessels, having far to go to secure 
the fish. Then, too, the rocky, sandy soil did not yield to cultivation. 
After nearly a year of brave struggle this little colony attracted the no- 
tice of Rev. John White, in charge of Trinity Parish, Dorchester, in Dorset, 
England, and who was afterwards a member of the Assembly that framed 
the Westminster Catechism. He was strongly impressed with the im- 
portance that could come from such a nucleus in building up a success- 
ful colony, and he exerted himself very greatly to succor this little band. 
After consultation with the Dorchester Company he received assurance 
that more men, money and cattle would be forthcoming. He looked 
about for a leader suitable to take charge of the colony under these 
changed and more promising conditions. His attention was directed to 
Roger Conant, who at this time, you will remember, was a member of 
the Nantasket Colony. Rev. Mr. White being well satisfied that this 
Roger Conant was a "pious, sober and prudent gentleman," Mr. Hum- 
phreys, Treasurer of the joint adventurers, was empowered to write Mr. 
Conant in their name stating that " they had chosen him to be their 



Governor in that place, and would commit unto him all their affairs, fish- 
ing as well as planting." Accordingly Governor Conant accepted this 
trust and removed to Cape Ann with his family, accompanied by Rev. 
Mr. Lyford, whom he made pastor of the settlement according to the 
established Church of England, which form of worship continued until 
the arrival of Governor Endicott. John Oldham, the successful trader 
with the Indians, also accompanied him for trading purposes. 

New hope was infused into the Plantation with the advent of Gover- 
nor Conant. The form of government under their patent was republi- 
can, very liberal and with suitable allegiance to England, with which 
they were strongly connected by social and political ties. This little 
colony, so apart in its location from others in the vast wilderness, 
adopted, under the patent, specific laws and rules for their own special 
and peculiar colony, that suggested themselves to the calm, clear judg- 
ment of Governor Conant, ably assisted by the tact and ability of such 
men as Thomas Gardner, John Woodbury, John Tilly and others. Self- 
government, of course, largely'entered into such a compact, which, under 
the circumstances, would necessarily be strictly kept by the conscien- 
tious and ignored by the careless. These colonists were chiefly God- 
fearing adherents of the Church, and their faith in God was unlimited, 
and their courage indomitable. It is impossible, we find, in our day 
to collect one hundred men who are in perfect accord on any important 
matter ; different minds asserting different views in essentials, as well as 
in non-essentials. This condition must have obtained in those early 
days, but throughout all we see Governor Conant's wise and just gov- 
erning hand while receiving the affectionate respect due from his little 
band. Particularly is this evidenced on the memorable occasion when 
Capt. Myles Standish, of the Plymouth Colony, appeared with a few 
men and demanded the fishing stages at Cape Ann, which the Plymouth 
Colony claimed had been built by them prior to the settlement there. 
The crews of the vessels and the fishermen needed but a sign to attack 
the doughty Capt. Myles Standish, whose hasty words had so incensed 
them. Governor Conant's conduct poured oil upon the troubled waters 
when he counseled that the men under Capt. Myles Standish be allowed 
to remove the fishing stages, as new ones could more easily be built than 
to have disgraceful words and possible bloodshed ensue. The wisdom 
of his advice was seen and speedily followed, and Captain Standish 
departed with his prize. This was the only disturbance recorded, and 
this, it may be seen, came about through no fault of the settlers them- 
selves. However, at the end of the year other causes for discourage- 
ment arose ; fishing and all pertaining to it had grown distasteful to 
many. The calling itself was not unworthy, being the Apostles' own, 



and money obtained therefrom was counted in as good repute as the 
gold-seekers now obtain from Austraha or Alaska ; but among the more 
humble workers a discordant element obtained, who tired of the life 
and refused to prosecute the industry under such adverse conditions, 
many of whom resolved to return to England, and took advantage of 
the Company's offer to defray all expenses of the return voyage, 
besides receiving their wages to date. About a year previous to this 
period Governor Conant, who was as dissatisfied with the location and 
business as were those connected with him, had journeyed four or five 
leagues to the southwest, where he had been much attracted by the 
good location and agricultural advantages of a fruitful neck of land pro- 
jecting into the sea, and promising great advantages. In glowing words 
he told of the "grass thick and long and very high, growing wildly," 
with strawberries everywhere, wild roses, brilliant and fragrant wild 
flowers, and scented herbs, raspberries, plums, grapes, and other tempt- 
ing wild fruits in profusion. He pictured this attractive spot with its 
brooks and winding streams to his faithful adherents, and it was agreed 
to remove to this place, now that nothing was to be gained by remain- 
ing where they were. Accordingly in 1626 he, with his faithful friends 
and followers, removed with all their worldly goods, including cattle, 
etc., to this attractive location. This little band, after the departure of 
the dissatisfied fishermen, consisted of Rev. Mr. Lyford, Thomas Gard- 
ner, John Woodbury, Peter Palfry, John Balch, and others, who were 
all greatly attached to their leader and governor. 

It is supposed that they landed not far from the foot of what is now 
Elm Street in Salem. Here in this attractive region they found a small 
band of friendly Indians who had been much depopulated by a recent 
epidemic, and who bade them welcome to Naumkeag. The Puritan 
divines found a similarity in the name Naumkeag to the Hebrew words 
Nahum Keike, meaning " bosom of consolation " — Nahum meaning com- 
fort and Keike a haven. Mather later interpreted it " haven of peace " ; 
and such did it indeed seem to this little company. The Indians had 
cleared a large space of ground and had raised much Indian corn. 
Berries and wild fruits were very abundant, so that the spirits of the little 
company rose in anticipation of the fruits of the earth that were to be 
raised in such plentiful abundance. Sites for their homes were selected, 
on a height of land between the North and South rivers, at a little dis- 
tance from each other, with fields and pastures in common ; and here they 
lived happily for a time, busy and contented. But alas ! the spirit of 
discontent invaded this peaceful retreat ; Rev. Mr. Lyford, John Oldham 
and others, had visited the more fruitful region and the warmer climate of 
the Virginia Colony, and they had decided to remove thither. Argu- 

6 



ment upon argument was used to induce Roger Conant and the mem- 
bers of the Salem Colony, many of whom favored the project, to come 
with them. Roger Conant earnestly desired to do so, but his sense of 
honor at the thought of thus deserting his position of trust, made him 
deaf to all entreaties. Rev. John White learning of the proposed plan 
to weaken the number of this little colony, again came to the rescue and 
counseled that one of their number be sent to the Company in England 
to represent the condition of the colony. The choice fell upon John 
Woodbury, as in every way worthy to present the needs and advantages 
of sending assistance, and to secure a new patent before any one else 
could do so. Mr. Woodbury departed on his mission, and returned in 
June, 1628, bringing word of promised aid and of a new patent shortly 
to be granted. After John Wpodbury's departure for this country, 
another party, controlled largely by Matthew Craddock, afterwards 
Governor Craddock of Massachusetts, gained control of the new patent, 
and John Endicott was made governor ; he was sent over with fifty more 
colonists to supersede Governor Conant. 

Of this last, Governor Conant was of course ignorant, and when he 
saw a goodly ship entering the harbor, he saw, as he supposed, the aid 
which he had been given reason to expect. Imagine, if you can, his 
feelings when he received information that after being Governor of the 
colony through that trying three years of struggle and adversity, that he 
was to be superseded by a new Governor, who now appeared in the per- 
son of Governor Endicott, prepared to claim the title and all the pre- 
rogatives of governorship. The Old Planters, firm adherents of Roger 
Conant, openly rebelled against his being ousted from his important 
office in that way, and wished to see their leader contest the validity of 
Governor Endicott's claim. But Roger Conant's calm, clear judgment 
satisfied him that the charter held by Governor Endicott, under the new 
regime, was well authenticated, and that any opposition made now, at 
this distance from the headquarters of the Company, would be worse 
than useless. Accordingly, in a courteous, Christian spirit, he strove by 
his words and bearing to recognize the authority vested in Governor 
Endicott. He gave him all the assistance possible, and counseled his 
adherents to do the same. But the Old Planters for several months, or 
the Cape Ann Planters, as they were commonly called, remained apart in 
spirit from the new-comers, and were greatly dissatisfied with the changed 
state of affairs. They realized that Governor Endicott had no right to 
make laws for them, who held lands according to a previous charter. 

The Company in England were informed of the condition of affairs 
by Governor Endicott, and in a letter dated April 17, 1629, the treas- 
urer of the Dorchester Company writes that "it is proposed to allow 



the Old Planters to become members of the corporation, hold the lands 
already allotted to them, and also to receive still further grants, which 
were to be equal to the grants allotted to the adventurers who had put 
^50 into the Company (only a few of the adventurers had put in a 
larger sum)." They were also to have a reduction on goods transported 
in the Company's vessels ; the privilege of cultivating tobacco, which 
was denied the other colonists ; and lastly they were permitted to elect 
two of their number as members of the Council. These privileges were 
granted. Still this was a trying time for Roger Conant and the Old 
Planters. He had indeed just cause for complaint. It needed but a 
word from him to induce them to join the Virginia Colony, where they 
would have been heartily welcomed, which was again being urged that 
they should do, but his uprightness and self-denial are plainly seen. He 
concealed his own sense of injustice, preferring to sacrifice his personal 
interests for the public good, thus securing peace and harmony. His 
success, we have seen, in attracting the notice of influential persons in 
England to the advantage of establishing a colony here was most re- 
markable, and but for him we know that the Colony at Cape Ann would 
have been given up after its first year of trial and adversity. The esteem 
in which he was held by Rev. John White, the noted divine, spoke vol- 
umes in his favor, as did also the influence of Sir Henry Russell, the 
patron of his brother John, the ecclesiastic. 

It has been contended by a few that he was not the first governor 
of Massachusetts ; but Roger Conant is fully entitled to that honor, for 
the Colony of which he was the first governor made the first permanent 
settlement in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and there established a 
legal form of government, from which the Massachusetts Bay Colony 
sprung, Roger Conant was without doubt the first and only governor 
under the Cape Ann patent, as Governor Endicott was the first governor 
under the second or Massachusetts charter. 

It would be impossible to find a greater disparity between the dis- 
positions of the two men than that presented by the first two governors 
of Massachusetts Bay Colony. Governor Conant was of a mild, gentle, 
unselfish, quiet nature, with a strong and high moral courage governed 
by a faith in the justice and providence of God that nothing could dim. 
"He could obey like a true soldier, or command like a true general." 
Governor Endicott was the opposite of Governor Conant, quick, impet- 
uous, unyielding, hasty, intolerant of others' rehgious views, and apt to 
be one-sided in his judgments. Besides strict honesty they had little 
else in common. 

There is no doubt but that the new colonists infused new life into 
the little Colony, and in a short time there were evident signs of pros- 



perity on every side. About each dwelling was to be found a patch of 
Indian corn, but the fields were common fields, — that is, cultivated in 
common. They had been made most prolific by the use of fish as a 
fertihzer, and yielded an abundance of vegetables of many sorts. The 
pastures were also used in common for pasturing the sheep and cattle. 
It might almost have been a " Province of Arcadia," for in the early 
morning, at the herdsman's call, could be seen the cattle, sheep and 
goats to leave their barns and stalls and come out into the broad path 
leading through the sunlit woods under the great arching trees of the 
forest to the common meadows beyond, to retrace their steps to the 
abiding places of their owners as the sun went down. 

Roger Conant built the first house in Salem. It stood, it is supposed, 
on Essex Street, on the site nearly opposite the Market in Derby Square. 

The materials for the large house used by the Cape Ann Planters at 
Cape Ann, was removed to Salem, for the use of Governor Endicott, 
but there is now some doubt about its location. 

Roger Conant was many times called to positions of honor and 
importance by his associates ; he having received an unusually good edu- 
cation for those early times was well fitted for the highest positions of 
trust and honor. He was admitted a freeman. May i8, 1631. 

At a Court held at Boston, 1632, it was ordered that there should be 
two persons chosen from each plantation to confer with the Court about 
raising a general stock for the purposes of trade. Roger Conant and 
Peter Palfry were thus chosen. 

In November, 1632, he was appointed with others to " sett down the 
bounds between Dorchester and Roxbury." Also to "sett off" a por- 
tion of land in Saugus to John Humphrey. Down to the year 1634 the 
freemen had intrusted the transaction of nearly all business to the Court 
of Assistants, but in that year they elected twenty-four of their own 
number as deputies to the General Court, which met at Boston, May 14. 
This was the second Representative Assembly which met in this country, 
that of Virginia being the first. Roger Conant was one of the deputies 
from Salem, and thus assisted in laying the foundation of that form of 
government which is to-day our best inheritance. 

In 1636 he was among those elected to examine and mark all canoes 
belonging in Salem, of which every householder owned several. As the 
forests for any distance were practically unexplored, the water was the 
highway of communication between neighboring settlements. 

The following year he was foreman of the Jury of Trials. 

In 1637 he, with Mr. William Hathorn, was appointed by the Gen- 
eral Court to be one of the Justices of the Quarterly Court at Salem. 
This was the district now embraced in Essex County. The Book of 



Grants for the nth of September, 1637, in the Town Records of Salem, 
is in his handwriting. He was one of the committee chosen to certify 
to the bounds between Salem and Saugus. In 1639 ^ ^^'^ meeting- 
house was built. A committee of five, of which Roger Conant was one, 
was appointed. Both he and his wife were among the original members, 
and in 1637 they signed the renewed covenant. Rev. Hugh Peters was 
the pastor. 

He was a member of the Grand Jury in 1642. 

In 1643 ^^ ^^^ o"^ °^ ^ committee to settle the bounds between 
Salem and Ipswich. In 1644 he surveyed Wenham and laid out the high- 
ways. In 1644 he was one of a Jury of Trials. In 1645 he was one of 
the tax assessors. In 1646 and 1655 he was again on the Grand Jury 
and Jury of Trials. 

The office of selectman, or one of the "eleven men," as it was at that 
time called, was one of great honor in those days ; only the most honorable 
men were thus chosen. Roger Conant held this office eleven years. 

In those early days clergymen occupied a very high position in the 
Colony, great deference being paid to them in social matters as well as 
in spiritual ones. It is a matter of record that only the most worthy 
men of the Colony were received by them on an equality. We find 
in 1663 that Roger Conant, Rev. John Higginson and Capt. Thomas 
Lothrop, who was afterwards slain at Bloody Brook, were delegated to 
the ordination of Rev. Antipas Newman, at Wenham. Rev. Antipas 
Newman married a daughter of Governor Winthrop. Thus it may be 
seen that Roger Conant's social position was of the highest. He was 
continually called upon to witness deeds and wills. In 1637 he removed 
to the mouth of Bass River, on the Cape Ann side, and there formed a 
new settlement, which is now comprised within the limits of the town of 
Beverly. He built his house on an Indian pathway leading to the sea. 
It is supposed that this house stood on the east side of Cabot Street 
near Balch Street. 

On February 10, 1649 or '50, the residents of Beverly finding it 
inconvenient to attend religious services at Salem, petitioned that they 
be allowed to have preaching among themselves. They were shortly 
after allowed this privilege, but they did not remove their connection 
from the church at Salem until 1665, when they were organized as a 
separate religious body, with Rev. John Hale as their pastor. To this 
day the name of Roger Conant may be found first on the list of mem- 
bers. He was one of a committee to fix Mr. Hale's salary. 

In 1668 the locality received the name of Beverly. But the name 
of Beverly was repugnant to Roger Conant. A petition drawn up by 
him and signed by thirty-four of his townsmen is in the Massachusetts 



Archives at the State House in this city, in which he states his objec- 
tions to the name. " First, because Beverly has been nicknamed ' Beg- 
garly,' because that the number of its inhabitants is so small." He 
also desired to spend his declining years in a town which bore the name 
of another town so dear to him, — Budleigh in his native land. He gives 
as a reason for presuming to make the request the service " that he as 
an humble instrument under God has been in establishing the Colony, 
when in the infancy thereof, it was in great hassard of being deserted. 
I was the means through grace assisting me to stop the flight of those 
few that then were here with me, and that by my utter denial, to goe 
away with them who would have gone either for England or mostly for 
Virginia but thereupon staid to the hassard of our lives." 

His petition was not granted, but instead two hundred acres of land 
were granted to him at that time. A grant of twenty acres had already 
been given to his son Roger, being the first child born in the settle- 
ment. The amount of land held by him must have been considerable 
in addition to that acquired by purchase. 

In 1635-36 Roger Conant, John Woodbury, Peter Palfry, John Balch 
and Captain Trask received each two hundred acres apiece lying at the 
head of Bass River. 

In 1637 he held forty-four acres in the vicinity of Salem Village. 

On June 17, 1671, the General Court granted two hundred acres in 
consideration of his being " a very ancient planter." 

In December, 1667, he divided among his sons, Lot, Roger and Exer- 
cise, the greater part of his property, preferring to dispose of it during 
his lifetime, reserving the use of a part of his estate during his Hfetime. 

The records of those early days are necessarily very incomplete, and 
much data in regard to Roger Conant's family has been unfortunately not 
preserved. His wife was known to be living in 1666, but as she is not 
mentioned in his will, she, without doubt, had died before that time. 

It is believed that only seven of the children of Roger and Sarah 
Horton Conant lived to maturity, for in the Book of Grants, written 
about 1640, it is recorded that the family of Roger Conant comprised 
nine persons. 

Roger Conant's death occurred in the eighty-eighth year of his age. 
The place of his burial is unfortunately not known, but he needs no head- 
stone nor towering granite shaft to keep his memory green in the hearts 
of his descendants. 

The Conant family has descended to the present time mainly through 
Roger's sons. Lot and Exercise. His sons Roger and Joshua have com- 
paratively few descendants. Lot was the ancestor of the Beverly 
branch, extending to Ipswich. Exercise removed to Boston ; his de- 



LofC. 



scendants are to-day to be found largely in Connecticut and Rhode 
Island. There is hardly a State in the Union but that there the honored 
name is proudly borne by the descendants of Roger Conant; the 
home of one talented member of the family being so far away as North- 
ern Canada. Nearly every family of Conants in each generation has 
been the happy possessor of a son bearing the name of Roger ; such 
sons being always the objects of much goodly counsel to be worthy 
bearers of the honored name. 

A dozen towns, more or less, bearing the illustrious name of Conant 
are scattered through the United States. Many streets throughout the 
country bear the name of Conant ; so named in honor of Roger Conant 
or some of his worthy descendants. In Salem, not far from Beverly 
Bridge, we find a Conant Street, thus named in his honor ; and in Beverly 
his name is also perpetuated by another street called Conant Street. 
Throughout all generations the loyalty and bravery inherited from 
our revered ancestor have been most conspicuous, as is here shown by 
the honorable military list which records the brave heroes bearing the 
name of Conant. 

In King Philip's Wars there were two ; in French Wars, five ; in the 
Revolutionary War, eighty; in the War of 1812, ten; in the Mexican 
War, one ; in the War of the RebeUion, seventy-four. 

Science, art and literature have been most worthily represented by 
many brilliant members of our worthy family, the medical profession 
alone furnishing a score or more of illustrious names here in New Eng- 
land at the present time. 

This account would be incomplete without a passing reference to the 
strict integrity and high moral worth of the many men and women of 
our day who are connected with our beloved family: men who are 
honored in business, and women who shine with true worth, ahke in our 
higher educational institutions and within the happy home circle. 

Many descendants there are to-day, and have been in the genera- 
tions that are past, who have borne the name most worthily, and who have 
attained the highest positions of honor in our land through their own 
merits and attainments, ever keeping before them the loyalty and fidelity 
of their worthy ancestor. 

Let us all, therefore, henceforth give all honor and praise due to one 
whose honored name, and whose integrity as its first Governor, laid the 
foundation of our honored Commonwealth, 

We who here to-day are of kindred blood and name in common, 
bound together by "ties as strong as iron though light as air," do 
one and all revere the memory of our most worthy ancestor, Roo-er 
Conant. 



